Endangered Fish Rescued from Arizona Wildfires

by Maria A. Schulz and Patricia Collier

Biologists and volunteers have been working together to save a rare fish threatened by debris from the Aspen Fire earlier this month on Mount Lemmon in Arizona. The fire covered 40,500 acres in the Sabino Canyon area.

Officials said 946 Gila chub, proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act, were rescued using nets, buckets, and an electric shock device.

Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists said 623 rescued chubs went to the Bubbling Ponds Hatchery near Sedona, 186 went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the rest went to the University of Arizona facility in Tucson.

"All the chub appear to be doing fine in their new locations, and very few appear to be suffering as a result of handling," said Don Mitchell, regional fisheries program manager for the Game and Fish Department in the Tucson area. Mitchell coordinated the rescue effort.

The evacuation project was undertaken to keep the fish from being killed once heavy summer rains bring ash and sediment from the fire down Mount Lemmon.

Mitchell said the specific genetic strain of Gila chub, a small minnow-like fish, might be unique to the Sabino Creek area. The Gila chub population in Sabino Canyon is one of the largest to be found anywhere in Arizona.

"Once the threat is gone, we will repatriate the rescued chub," said Game and Fish Department biologist Rob Bettaso.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.